OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — Canada’s federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking to have the nation’s broadcasting regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), enforce upon all broadcasters woke and pro-LGBT “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” (EDI) requirements.
A June 10 order from the Department of Canadian Heritage notes that the government is looking to impose as part of its Sustainable and Equitable Broadcasting Regulatory Framework new “binding” woke mandates of “inclusion” and “diversity.”
“The Government is proposing to issue policy directions to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the Commission) under section 7 of the Broadcasting Act. The proposed directions would give binding, high-level direction to the Commission as it engages Canadians and all interested parties to design and implement a new regulatory framework through an open, public dialogue,” the order reads.
The government notes that the “key elements” from its order include “supporting greater inclusion of equity-seeking groups in the broadcasting system” along with “redefining Canadian programs.”
Part of the new regulations says the government will mean that broadcasters must recognize and “overcome” the “challenges faced by certain Canadians, including Indigenous persons, Black and other racialized persons, Canadians of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds, members of OLMCs, persons with disabilities, members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities, women, and members of other equity-seeking groups.”
The new rules say the government will go to support “greater inclusion of equity-seeking groups in the broadcasting system,” which will include “meaningful participation of Indigenous persons.”
The new proposed rules are under a 45-day “consultation” process, meaning Canadians have until July 25 to give their opinions on the new rules.
The proposed regulations would exclude content made by “social media creators” as well as “podcasters who primarily use platforms that allow podcasters to upload their content without exercising control over the selection of programs for transmission.”
The government will also mandate that the CRTC make account of demographic trends when it sets its expenditure mandates for broadcasters.
This would include collecting “data concerning the participation of Black and other racialized persons in the Canadian broadcasting system.”
The new mandates would also have to be equally applied to support Indigenous and other “equity-seeking” creators.
As it stands now, the CRTC already has an EDI mandate in place and has already mandated that the nation’s public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), have a minimum of 30% of its programming be geared toward “minorities” that includes the LGBT groups.
Earlier this year, former CBC journalist Tara Henley explained why she left her job at the broadcaster due to its increasing “radical political agenda,” which included woke EDI mandates.
In May, the Trudeau Liberals passed a first-ever law that will regulate Canada’s internet, Bill C-11.
In practice, Bill C-11 now mandates that the CRTC oversee regulating online content on platforms such as YouTube and Netflix to ensure that such platforms are promoting content in accordance with a variety of its guidelines.
The bill itself has faced immense criticism for its implications on freedom of speech, to the point that even Big Tech giants YouTube and Apple, which both have a history of enacting their own forms of censorship on users, have previously urged the Senate to stall the bill.
The government said there are more laws to come, and indeed, only last week another internet censorship law, Bill C-18, became law as well.
This bill, known as the Online News Act, will block or severely limit news content for Canadians on social media platforms, as it mandates Facebook and Google pay news outlets for shared content.
Because of Bill C-18, Facebook has said it will prevent Canadians from sharing news on its platforms.